“In Longley and Zaidel’s hands, this interplay of narrative text and personal remembrance is effective... Heroes for All Time is a handsome and elegant book... [continued in Reviews below]”—Catherine L. Deichmann, Connecticut History Review

Compelling first-hand accounts of the war, lavishly illustrated with rare period photos

Voices of Civil War soldiers rise from the pages of Heroes for All Time. This book presents the war straight from the minds and pens of its participants; rich passages from soldiers’ letters and diaries complement hundreds of outstanding period photographs, most previously unpublished. The soldiers’ moving experiences, thoughts, and images animate each chapter. Written accounts by nurses and doctors, soldiers’ families, and volunteers on the home front add intriguing details to our picture of the struggle, which claimed roughly 6,000 Connecticut lives. Rare war artifacts—a bone ring carved on the battlefield or a wad of tobacco acquired from a rebel picket—connect the reader to the men and boys who once owned them. From camp life to battle, from Virginia to Louisiana, from the opening shot at Bull Run to the cheering at Appomattox, Heroes for All Time tells the story of the war through vivid, personal portrayals.

“In Longley and Zaidel’s hands, this interplay of narrative text and personal remembrance is effective... Heroes for All Time is a handsome and elegant book. Large in size and scope, it explores universally themes, yet the compelling first-person accounts, photographs, and artifacts evoke the readers’ interest and empathy for these individuals and their lives. Reading the soldiers’ own words, often written in the aftermath of life-changing experience, is fresh and meaningful for today’s audience despite the passage of time. We have inherited the nation these men fought and died for; their stories remind us of the sacrifices they made for its survival.”—Catherine L. Deichmann, Connecticut History Review

“The richly illustrated volume is a vivid picture of the war as it was experienced by Connecticut soldiers. It features hundreds of photographs, many published for the first time, side by side with letters and diary accounts to bring home the story of the bloody struggle that cost 644,000 lives.”—Erik Hesselberg, Hartford Courant

“This book offers much for anyone interested in Connecticut’s role in the Civil War. In addition, it should appeal to modern Civil Warriors who enjoy learning about the War of the Rebellion through the words of the participants and to anyone with interests in contemporary photographs of the soldiers. Wesleyan University Press is to be commended for producing such an attractive volume of soldier writings and images.”—David A. Ward, Blue and Gray Magazine

“Heroes [for All Time] tells much of the story through the words of soldiers in letters and diaries and includes many of the soldiers’ photos. Their words describe the horrors and hardship of war but also the quotidian details of life in camp, the weather, and their thoughts of home.”—Connecticut Explored

“By focusing on the soldiers’ own words, not only does the book relate the intricacies and challenges of military life and battles, but it also shows emotions—fear, excitement, hope, anger—that will carry readers into the fervor of patriotism, the heat of battle, and the dejection of momentary defeat. … This engaging historical book should be dog-eared by historians, collectors, and Civil War enthusiasts from reading and rereading it.”—Maine Antique Digest

“I highly recommend this rich and well-edited collection of original source material, which reflects the lived experience of Connecticut soldiers and their families during the Civil War—tracing that experience from initial enthusiasm, through times of suffering and hardship, to victory and the return home.”—Richard Slotkin, author of The Long Road to Antietam: How the Civil War Became a Revolution

“Heroes for All Time weaves compelling personal accounts and evocative original images with crisp narrative to create a riveting, unforgettable account of Nutmeggers’ Civil War experience from battlefield to home front.”—Diana Ross McCain, head of the Connecticut Historical Society Research Center

“Not since 1868, when Croffut and Morris published their Military & Civil History of Connecticut in the War of 1861–1865, has there been a book so focused on the sacrifice, suffering, and service of the soldiers from the Nutmeg State. Never before have so many images of Connecticut soldiers been gathered in one book.”—Andrew De Cusati, former Marine infantryman, Baptist, and longtime student of the Civil War

“Heroes for All Time is a fascinating study of the many services rendered by Connecticut and its soldiers and citizens during the Civil War. Combining the soldiers’ own words with portraits, artifacts, and views, this book is well worth reading.”—Michael McAfee, West Point Museum

Awards/Recognition:

Winner of the Bruce Fraser Award (2016)

DIONE LONGLEY is an independent historian and writer. For two decades, she served as director of the Middlesex County Historical Society. She annotated The Old Leather Man, by Dan DeLuca. BUCK ZAIDEL, a dentist and longtime Civil War enthusiast, collects objects and images related to Union soldiers’ daily lives. He has exhibited at Civil War and antique arms shows across the country, and contributed items to museum exhibitions, including Photography and the American Civil War at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A Driftless Connecticut Series Book

This book is a 2015 selection in The Driftless Connecticut Series,
for an outstanding book in any field on a Connecticut topic
or written by a Connecticut author.
The Driftless Connecticut Series is funded by the
Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund
at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.